Pope Francis kisses a child as he meets with sick people and staff of the Mother Teresa House in Dhaka's Tejgaon neighborhood, Bangladesh, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)
The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis says he recalls so many "suffering" but "noble" faces from his just-ended trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh.
He greeted people in St. Peter's Square on Sunday. Francis thanked God for the voyage's opportunity to meet residents in the two Asian countries, citing in particular the tiny Catholic communities there, adding he was "edified by their testimony."
Flying late Saturday, he recounted that he spoke frankly but privately in Myanmar about Rohingya refugees' plight and said he cried when he met some in Bangladesh, where they have fled a Myanmar military crackdown.
He said Sunday of his trip: "Impressed on me is the memory of so many faces, tried by life, but noble and smiling."
Francis had drawn criticism for not publicly citing, while in Myanmar, the Rohingya suffering.
Pope Francis visits the Mother Teresa House in Dhaka's Tejgaon neighborhood, Bangladesh, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. Pope Francis is wrapping up his Asian trip with a visit to an orphanage and home for the disabled run by Mother Teresa's order and a meeting with Bangladeshi priests and nuns. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)
The Associated Press
Pope Francis talks during a news conference on board a flight to return to Rome, Saturday Dec. 2, 2017, after a seven day trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh. Pope Francis urged Bangladeshi priests and nuns to resist the "terrorism of gossip" that can tear religious communities apart, delivering one of his trademark, zinger-filled spontaneous speeches to the country's Catholic leadership on Saturday at the close of an otherwise tense and diplomatically fraught Asian tour. (Vincenzo Pinto/Pool via AP)
The Associated Press
Pope Francis talks during a news conference on board a flight to return to Rome, Saturday Dec. 2, 2017, after a seven day trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh. Pope Francis urged Bangladeshi priests and nuns to resist the "terrorism of gossip" that can tear religious communities apart, delivering one of his trademark, zinger-filled spontaneous speeches to the country's Catholic leadership on Saturday at the close of an otherwise tense and diplomatically fraught Asian tour. (Vincenzo Pinto/Pool via AP)
The Associated Press